


i fell into a burning ring of fire

by BluebarrieMuzzins



Series: Around the League [11]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Blow Jobs, Brief Mention of Gritty, Brief Mention of Lawson Crouse, Brief Mention of Other Flyers, Campfires, Camping, Canoeing Mishaps, Canoes, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dizziness, Exhibitionism, First Kiss, Idiots in Love, Laughter, Love Confessions, M/M, Merry-Go-Rounds, Playgrounds, Public Blow Jobs, Pyromania, S'mores, Shooting Stars, Skipping Stones, Sleepy Cuddles, Stupidity, Tire Swings, Wishes, in the sense that the campfire gets them both horny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:54:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26472970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluebarrieMuzzins/pseuds/BluebarrieMuzzins
Summary: The first turn on the lake came up and Travis lifted his oar out of the water. Nolan wasn’t fast enough and got his oar caught in between two rocks. The canoe jerked as Nolan jostled the oar back and forth to try to free it.“Nolan don--”Before Travis could finish, Nolan jerked the oar with one particular hard motion and freed it. That motion jostled the canoe violently. Travis and Nolan tried to steady the canoe but they overcorrected too much and ended up in the lake.
Relationships: Travis Konecny/Nolan Patrick
Series: Around the League [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666117
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	i fell into a burning ring of fire

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a hot minute since I've written an RPF story. I've mainly been focusing on reader-inserts/imagines because those have been what I've had the motivation to write lately.
> 
> Well. Not today. I was browsing Tumblr earlier and a random prompt thing came across my dash that said something to the effect of: "Imagine Person A Teaching Person B..." and then it listed off some examples. A few of the examples were pitching a tent, skipping stones, and steering a canoe. So, uh... naturally my brain decided I needed to write a fic where Teeks showed Patty how to do all of them. The only problem is that it kinda got away from me and it ended up way longer than I anticipated. This is literally the longest one-shot I've ever written. And it only took me 11 hours to write all of it, which is some sort of feat all on its own. I only beta'd it with the basic Grammarly so any mistakes that remain are my own fault and I apologize for them. I did the best I could to not have them be there. It's just been a long day of writing and I was excited to show this to you so I feel like a few mistakes are okay.
> 
> As per usual: If you found this by Googling yourself, are in this yourself, or know someone in this, please click back. No harm was meant in the creation of this fic. It's a complete fabrication that my mind decided needed to be written based on a stupid prompt list.
> 
> Title from "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash

“Patty,” Travis said, exasperated. “The tent pole goes through the hole with the same colour lining as the colour of the pole!”

Nolan scoffed as he threw the tent pole and the tent onto the ground. He glared daggers at Travis as he stalked over to the picnic table and sat down.

“Whatever,” Nolan grumbled.

He motioned to the tent and then to Travis.

“If you know how to do it, you do it.”

Travis blinked before he grabbed the tent pole that Nolan had thrown down. He turned his back to Nolan as he grabbed the tent and threaded the pole through the correct hole.

He turned to look at Nolan. Nolan had a sour expression on his face. Travis rolled his eyes and dropped the tent. 

“Get over here,” Travis said. “The whole point of this was to teach  _ you  _ to pitch the tent.”

Nolan huffed before he stood from his seat and walked over to Travis. He grabbed one of the tent poles and the tent. He motioned with his head to the coloured lining that matched the colour of the pole. Travis nodded and smiled. Nolan rolled his eyes as he threaded the pole through the hole.

Travis allowed Nolan to thread the rest of the poles through their correct holes. Nolan grumbled a few times, annoyed that he was the one that had to do all of the work. Travis reminded Nolan that he was the one that had asked to learn how to set up the tent in the first place. Nolan seemed none too pleased with that answer but didn’t argue with Travis to try to change his mind.

Once the tent had all the poles threaded through it, Nolan smiled sarcastically.

“There’s your fucking tent,” he said as he glared at Travis.

Travis covered his mouth with one of his hands and snorted. Nolan glared harder at Travis as he walked to the picnic table. As soon as he sat down, Travis walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“We’re not done yet, bud,” Travis said. “We need to lay the tarp out and stake the tent down.”

Nolan scoffed and flipped Travis off. Travis snorted again as he walked to the back of his truck and pulled out the tarp and the bag of tent stakes. He tossed the bag of stakes to Nolan. Nolan reacted just in time to catch the bag before it beaned him in the side of the head. He gave Travis a side-eyed glare as he walked over to the tent.

“Fuck you, asshole,” Nolan grumbled. “That almost hit me in the head.”

Travis rolled his eyes as he walked over with the tarp. He laid it down where he wanted the tent to go and looked up at Nolan.

“I thought you had your eyes on me,” Travis said, apologetically. “Sorry.”

Nolan scoffed as he handed Travis four stakes. 

Travis went around and placed one stake in each of the corner rings of the tarp. He shifted the tarp a little before he nodded his head in approval. 

“Can you go grab the hammer,” Travis asked. “It should be on the back seat of the truck.”

Nolan handed Travis the bag of stakes before he walked over to the truck. Nolan grumbled the whole way to and from the truck but he did return with the aforementioned hammer. Travis gave Nolan a thumbs up and switched Nolan the bag for the hammer.

The ground was harder than Travis expected so it took longer to hammer the stakes in than he would’ve liked. Once they were finally in the ground, Travis threw the hammer down and muttered a few choice words. He heard Nolan try to suppress a laugh but it ultimately failed and Nolan erupted into a fit of laughter. Travis cracked a small smile when he turned to look at Nolan.

Nolan had braced himself on a nearby tree, the bag of stakes dropped at his feet. He was doubled over in laughter and his face was slightly red. He had started to wheeze from the force of the laughter. Travis felt butterflies flutter around in his stomach. It had been  _ ages _ since he had seen Nolan act this carefree. It was nice to witness again, even if it would only last a short time. 

When Nolan came down from his laughter high, he wiped his eyes of some tears that had accumulated there. Travis felt his stomach flutter with butterflies again as he looked at the blissful expression on Nolan’s face. Travis swallowed every emotion that had risen in his throat and cleared his throat.

“Can…” Travis paused. 

Travis’ emotions ramped up again when he saw the look on Nolan’s face. Nolan looked peaceful and happy. Travis’ fucked up brain took that to mean that Nolan was peaceful and happy because of Travis’ presence. Not for the fact that Nolan had just spent a good five minutes in a laughter fit over some stupid shit that Travis had done. It was a problem that Travis had thought that he had under control. Evidently, he was wrong.

“Can I do what,” Nolan asked.

Travis snapped out of his daze and looked at Nolan. Nolan had a neutral look on his face once again, which was more normal from him. 

Travis sighed, took his hat off, and raked a hand through his hair before he situated his hat back on his head.

“Can you pass me the tent,” Travis asked. “I need to put it on the tarp.”

Nolan nodded before he walked a few steps to the tent. He handed it to Travis and Travis smiled weakly as thanks. Nolan smiled and nodded his head slightly in return.

Once the tent was situated on the tarp and staked into the ground, Travis and Nolan made their way to the picnic table. Travis opened the cooler and grabbed a couple of turkey sandwiches. Nolan smiled as he opened the Ziploc bag before he took a bite.

“Jesus,” he muttered, though it sounded odd because he still had some of the sandwich in his mouth. “This is cold.”

Travis rolled his eyes as he took a bite of his sandwich and swallowed.

“It was in a cooler full of ice,” Travis said. He took another bite and swallowed that before he looked over at Nolan again. “Did you really expect it to be warm, Patty?”

Nolan flipped Travis off and took another bite of his sandwich.

“Fuck off, Teeks.” It sounded garbled again because Nolan had another mouthful of sandwich.

Travis shook his head and chuckled around the bite of sandwich in his mouth. That caused him to swallow some of his sandwich the wrong way. He coughed and sputtered a couple of times as he looked helplessly at Nolan. All Nolan did was smirk around the last piece of his sandwich.

“That’s what you get for being a smartass,” Nolan said as he licked a dollop of mustard off of one of his fingers.

Travis took that opportunity to flip Nolan off. Nolan chuckled as he opened the cooler and grabbed a couple of water bottles. He handed one to Travis and placed the other one in front of himself on the picnic table. Travis gave Nolan a thumbs-up as he finished the last of his sandwich.

Travis took a quick drink from the water bottle. His throat was sore and needed the refreshment of the water to calm it down. He sighed happily when the water did what he intended it to do.

“How about we go to the lake,” Nolan said, his voice a little strained. Travis found that odd but he decided not to comment on it. “I want you to teach me how to skip stones.”

“Of course,” Travis replied. “We can rent a canoe after and I’ll teach you how to properly steer one while we’re at it.”

Nolan nodded as he slid out of his seat at the picnic table and started to walk down the path to the lake. Travis finished his water bottle before he slid out of his seat and hurried after Nolan.

Once they were at the lake, Nolan pulled Travis into a section that was away from most of the people that were already there. Only a handful of other people were around them as they made their way to the edge of the lake.

“First off,” Travis said as he bent down to look at the stones, “you’ll want to find the flattest stone you can. Flat stones tend to skip better.”

Nolan nodded as he bent down beside Travis.

The two scoured the shore for fifteen minutes before they both found what they deemed their ideal rocks. When they met back at the original spot, Nolan looked rather excited as he rocked back and forth on his feet.

Travis chuckled as he squeezed Nolan’s elbow. Nolan immediately stopped his motions and looked at Travis with a soft expression. Travis raised an eyebrow but kept quiet about that. Instead, he focused on the reason they were at the lake in the first place.

“Alright,” Travis started as he turned to face the lake, “you want to hold your hand sideways.”

Nolan held his hand sideways as he was instructed to do. Travis gave Nolan a thumbs up with the hand that wasn’t in possession of his stone.

“Flick your wrist a couple of times to get a handle on the motion.” 

He flicked his wrist but held onto the stone.

Nolan did as instructed once again. Travis smiled and gave Nolan another thumbs up.

“The last step is to repeat that motion until you feel comfortable enough to release the stone.” 

Travis repeated the motion five more times before he released the stone. It skipped along the water three times before it stopped and sank into the water. Nolan smiled and repeated his own motion three times before he released his own stone. It skipped across the water four times before it stopped and sank into the water. Nolan made a satisfying sound and looked at Travis.

“Ha,” he said. “I skipped more times than you.”

Travis rolled his eyes, smiled, and playfully punched Nolan’s shoulder.

“Good job, Patty,” he said. “That means I’m a good coach.”

Nolan scoffed and knocked Travis’ hat off of his head. Travis mumbled as he picked the hat up from the very edge of the water and squeezed it to try to get the water out of it.

“Asshole! That was a new hat!”

“Why the fuck would you wear a new hat on a camping trip?”

Travis paused and looked at Nolan owlishly. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before his facial expression turned sour.

“Oh, fuck you,” Travis mumbled.

Nolan smirked and chuckled.

“Let’s go rent that canoe now,” Nolan said as he motioned in the direction of the campground’s boat rental building. “They better have life jackets because I’m not about to get into a canoe with you if they don’t.”

“Oh, fuck you times two,” Travis said.

Nolan knocked Travis’ hat off again before he booked it up the beach in the direction of the boat rental building. Travis cursed to himself as he picked his hat up out of the edge of the water and tried to squeeze dry it. When he was satisfied that it was as dry as it would be, for now, he put it back on his head and hurried after Nolan.

When he caught up with Nolan, Nolan had already paid for the canoe and the life jacket rentals. Travis felt somewhat guilty for that.

“You didn’t have to pay, Patty,” Travis said as they slipped their life jackets on. “It was my idea. I should’ve paid.”

Nolan chuckled as he tightened the straps on his life jacket.

“Consider it a treat for all the things you do for me,” Nolan said. 

Travis could’ve sworn he saw Nolan wink at him but he was just as certain it was an illusion caused by the rush of endorphins that had gone to his head at Nolan’s words.

Once their life jackets were fastened properly, they hoisted the canoe over their head. They stopped briefly at the campground map to find directions to the canoe launch before they continued.

It was a lot harder to see with a canoe over their heads than they had originally thought. So, it took a little longer than anticipated to arrive at the canoe launch. But it was worth it when they finally arrived because the scenery was gorgeous.

Travis snapped a few pictures of the willow trees that hung over the water and some of the lily pads that floated along the shoreline. Nolan instructed Travis to stand in front of the willow trees so he could get pictures to post on his private Instagram. Travis pulled a couple of stupid faces and Nolan chuckled at the absurdity of them. 

“You’re a dork, Teeks,” Nolan said.

Travis felt his entire body burn red-hot at that. His stomach swooped and his heartbeat picked up slightly. He swallowed but his throat remained bone-dry. He hated that Nolan had this effect on him.

“Don’t you know it,” Travis said, though it sounded more like a frog croak. 

Nolan raised an eyebrow but didn’t say a word on the matter. Travis sighed and ran a hand across his forehead in relief. When his hand came off covered in sweat, he cursed internally. There was no way he could hold his composure while they were in the canoe together.

“Ready to go,” Nolan asked as he walked up to stand by Travis at the front of the canoe.

Travis nodded as he stepped out of his shoes and tossed them into the canoe. Nolan stepped out of his own shoes and tossed them alongside Travis’ in the canoe.

Nolan motioned for Travis to get into the canoe. Travis tilted his head in confusion but he did do as instructed. After Travis was properly situated in one of the seats, Nolan slowly dragged the canoe into the water.

“Fucking hell. That’s cold,” Nolan said as soon as his feet touched the water.

Travis chuckled as he used one of the oars to push the canoe the rest of the way into the water. Nolan thanked Travis as he carefully maneuvered himself into the canoe. The canoe rocked a couple of times but Nolan was able to get himself into a seat without any issues.

Nolan grabbed the other before he sat the same way Travis sat. Travis hummed his approval as they started to row the canoe out into the lake.

“I didn’t even have to tell you,” Travis said. “I’m impressed.”

“I know a few things,” Nolan replied, voice a little sheepish.

Travis smirked as he continued to row the canoe.

The first turn on the lake came up and Travis lifted his oar out of the water. Nolan wasn’t fast enough and got his oar caught in between two rocks. The canoe jerked as Nolan jostled the oar back and forth to try to free it.

“Nolan don--”

Before Travis could finish, Nolan jerked the oar with one particular hard motion and freed it. That motion jostled the canoe violently. Travis and Nolan tried to steady the canoe but they overcorrected too much and ended up in the lake.

Travis glared at Nolan as they floated beside the canoe.

“And you said I was the one we had to worry about,” Travis said, a little annoyed.

“Oh, fuck off,” Nolan said as he grabbed onto the canoe.

Travis grabbed the oars and their shoes out of the water and flung them back in the canoe. Nolan gave him a sarcastic thumbs-up. Travis rolled his eyes as he grabbed the other end of the canoe and helped Nolan swim the canoe back to the canoe launch. 

When they carried the canoe out of the water, Travis and Nolan sat on the shore for a moment. Travis huffed one breath. Two breaths. Three breaths as he sat there. He heard Nolan huff a couple of heavy breaths from beside him.

“Let’s agree to never do that again,” Nolan said as he stood. He unclasped his life jacket and threw it into the canoe. “I don’t have a swimmer’s body.”

“Mood,” Travis said as he stood and shucked his life jacket into the canoe.

Nolan rolled his eyes as he handed Travis his shoes. 

“Dork,” Nolan muttered.

Travis felt another wave of red-hot heat wash over him as he slipped into his shoes. His stomach clenched and his heartbeat sped up ever so slightly. He was so far gone on Nolan that it was ridiculous.

They brought the canoe back to the boat rental building without any problems with the canoe. The only problem Travis had was that he had stared at Nolan’s ass the entire time because it looked great with the way his wet pants clung to it. If Nolan noticed, he didn’t mention it. That made Travis feel both relieved and guilty. He was relieved that he hadn’t been caught. But he felt guilty that he had looked in the first place. He knew better than to let his eyes wander on someone that so clearly didn’t return his affections. 

“I wanna go to the playground.” Nolan’s voice cut through Travis’ thoughts. “The picture on the map shows that there are a tire swing and one of those spinning circle things.”

Travis choked on a laugh. Nolan raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

“Patty,” Travis said, voice hoarse. “They’re called merry-go-rounds. Not,” Travis made air quotes as he spoke, “ _ ‘spinning circle things,’ _ ”

Nolan huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Does it make a difference,” he asked. “You still knew what I meant, shithead.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m sorry.”

A ray of sunlight beamed in Travis’ eyes right then. He cursed and blinked a couple of times. He thought he saw a look of concern on Nolan’s face. He also thought it was an illusion caused by the sunlight in his eyes. After he rubbed his eyes, Nolan’s facial expression was as blank as ever. Travis sighed because he didn’t know what to believe anymore. Nolan didn’t seem to clue into what was wrong because he directed Travis down the path to the playground without another word.

When they got to the playground, there were a few younger kids there. They were all on or around the pirate ship playset and sounded like they were in the middle of a re-enactment of a sea monster battle. That made Travis smile because his favourite playground activity as a child was to pretend that he was a pirate and that Lawson was the sea monster because Lawson was always the larger of the two of them.

“The tire swing is free,” Nolan said, elated. “Let’s go!”

Travis was jerked forward just then as Nolan dragged him over to the tire swing. Nolan quickly maneuvered himself into position on the tire swing and sat with his back to Travis.

“C’mon Teeks. Push me,” Nolan said, voice full of a joy that Travis rarely heard.

Travis swallowed the dryness that had manifested in his throat before he walked around to the front of the swing. Nolan nodded eagerly as he held onto the chains on either side of him. Travis smiled weakly in response and hoped that would suffice. He wasn’t entirely sure he could trust himself to talk and not say something stupid right now.

Travis grabbed the tire swing and started to rock it back and forth. Nolan’s face lit up. He started to giggle as Travis started to rock the swing faster. Travis swallowed another patch of dryness in his throat as he grabbed the inside of the tire swing. He ran counterclockwise as fast as he could before he quickly reversed and ran clockwise as fast as he could. It was at that point that he let go of the swing and allowed the momentum he had created to move Nolan.

Nolan was all smiles and giggles as he spun around on the tire swing. The longer he swung, the louder he giggled. Everything about this made Travis’ stomach do somersaults. When Nolan was happy and in a good mood, it made Travis feel happy. If Travis could live in this moment forever, he would. It was perfect for him.

“Teeks,” Nolan said. “That was awesome. Thank you so much.”

Nolan wobbled over to Travis and wrapped him in a hug. Travis hadn’t been aware that the tire swing had stopped but he wasn’t about to complain if it meant that Nolan would continue to hug him.

When Nolan pulled back, he grabbed Travis’ wrists and placed his thumbs on the pulse points. Travis’ brain seized its functions momentarily as it tried to process that action. Travis hoped Nolan wouldn’t notice the deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. Luckily for Travis, Nolan didn’t mention anything. All he did was jerk Travis backwards and drag him to the merry-go-round.

Travis was unceremoniously shoved onto the merry-go-round. He glared at Nolan but the glare quickly fell from his face as Nolan grabbed the railing and started to run in a circle. Travis stumbled for a moment before he gripped the railing with the tightest grip he could muster.

The faster Nolan ran, the faster Travis felt his heartbeat race. He felt his stomach lurch into his throat and his head started to swim from the inertia that was being placed on his body. 

“Have fun, Teeks,” Nolan said.

Travis barely processed the words because his brain was too overstimulated from going repeatedly in circles. He managed to give Nolan a weak thumbs up before he dropped to his knees on the merry-go-round.

As the merry-go-round started to slow down, Travis took breaths to steady himself. It helped somewhat with the inertia problem on his head but it still felt it was in a pressure cooker.

When the merry-go-round finally stopped, Travis took a deep breath before he braced himself to stand. He stood still for a moment to try to gain his balance. When Travis felt ready, he took a few steps and nearly fell over. Nolan rushed forward and helped steady Travis.

“Shit,” Nolan said as he held Travis by the waist. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to fuck you up that badly.”

Travis waved a hand dismissively before he placed it on Nolan’s chest.

“All,” Travis hiccupped, “good.” He hiccupped again as he placed his other hand and head on Nolan's chest.

Travis hiccupped a few more times as Nolan held him steady against his chest. The soft rhythm of Nolan’s heartbeat helped relax Travis enough to get him to stop with the hiccups. When Travis looked up at Nolan, he noticed that Nolan’s cheeks were dusted with a soft pink colour. Travis swallowed thickly as he stepped far enough back from Nolan to get his hands to fall from Travis’ hips. Travis cleared his throat and ran a hand along the back of his neck. Nolan shifted from foot to foot as he looked at Travis.

“Let’s--”

“How about--”

They spoke at the same time, though they stopped when they realized the other had started to speak.

Nolan had an apologetic look on his face as he motioned to Travis.

“Sorry,” he said. “You go ahead.”

Travis smiled weakly as he removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair. After his hat was placed back on his head, he looked up at Nolan.

“How about we go back to the campsite,” Travis said. “We can start a fire to roast hot dogs and make s’mores.”

Nolan smiled with the corner of his mouth and nodded.

“I was gonna suggest we get dinner anyways.”

Travis smiled and patted Nolan’s chest. Travis didn’t miss the way Nolan blushed a deeper pink at the action. Travis swallowed thickly as he and Nolan walked towards the campsite. 

Once they arrived, Nolan gathered the firewood while Travis went to the cooler to grab the food. When Travis arrived at the fire pit, Nolan had already arranged the firewood to be burned. Nolan disappeared for a moment and returned with their camping chairs and the campfire skewers. Travis smiled as he placed the food in his chair.

“Thanks,” Travis said with a smile. 

Nolan nodded as he slid into his own chair. 

“The lighter is in the cup holder on your chair,” Nolan said as he motioned to Travis’ chair. 

Travis reached into the cup holder and pulled out the aforementioned lighter. He gave Nolan a thumbs up before he walked over to the firewood. He took a moment to gather some leaves and twigs to place in the fire pit. Nolan titles his head in confusion but he nodded a moment later when Travis lit the pile of leaves and twigs on fire.

Travis stepped back and watched the fire smoulder underneath one of the logs. It would be a while before it grew large enough to cook on but the sight of it always got him excited for what was to come. 

“You’re a pyro,” Nolan asked, though it came out as more of a statement.

Travis startled a little, surprised that he had said that out loud. He swallowed the dryness in his throat as he walked back to his chair.

“I… uh…” Travis decidedly didn’t look at Nolan as he grabbed the food and placed it on his lap as he sat down. 

“Maybe,” Travis whispered, his face red-hot with embarrassment.

“That’s hot,” Nolan said as he tried to suppress a giggle.

Travis glared at Nolan as he opened the marshmallows and flung one at Nolan’s head.

“Bitch,” Travis said, though there was no anger behind his words. 

Nolan giggled as he grabbed the marshmallow and shoved it in his mouth. Travis short-circuited when Nolan started to chew the marshmallow in the most obscene way imaginable. He felt his nerve endings flare when Nolan made direct eye contact with him. Nolan smirked and started to move his tongue in the most obscene way possible. Travis swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to focus his attention on the fire pit.

The fire had started to ignite the bottom of the firewood and Travis shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Normally, he would say it was from the fire but he had entered this on unfair grounds because of what Nolan had done. He couldn’t be sure of the fire or Nolan’s obscenity had caused this reaction. Travis glanced at Nolan and saw that he was on Instagram on his phone.

A loud crackle drew Travis’ attention back to the fire pit. Travis shifted in his seat again, though he tried to do it discreetly. Another loud crackle made Travis swallow and clear his throat involuntarily. Nolan looked over at him, though he didn’t say anything before he looked back down at his phone. 

Travis noticed that the fire had started to grow. He swallowed again and shifted in his seat another time. Travis glanced at Nolan and jumped slightly when he noticed that Nolan had his eyes trained on him.

“Jesus,” Travis said. “You scared the shit outta me.”

“You really are a pyro.” Nolan motioned to Travis crotch and completely ignored what Travis had said. “I didn’t think you were serious.”

Travis looked down and felt himself blanch. His pants had a noticeable bulge in the front of them, even with the food in his lap.

“Look… Patty,” Travis said, though his voice sounded foreign to him.

Nolan lifted his hands from his lap and Travis blinked once. Twice. Three times. Nolan had an equally noticeable bulge in the front of his pants.

“Me too,” Nolan whispered and bit his bottom lip as he looked at Travis.

Travis’ brain whirred and functioned so slowly that he was surprised that the sound of dial-up internet didn’t come out of his ears. Nolan waved his hand in front of Travis’ face; that broke Travis out of his trance. He shook his head a couple of times to regain his composure before he focused his full attention on Nolan.

“Sorry… I…” Travis stammered, still unsure of what to say. “I just…”

Nolan placed his hand on Travis’ shoulder and squeezed gently. Travis relaxed a little, both with that and the soft expression he saw on Nolan's face. Nolan smiled at Travis and ran a thumb along Travis’ cheek before he dropped his hand back into his own lap.

“I haven’t found someone like me in a long time,” Nolan said, voice surprisingly steady.

A loud crackle from the fire caused Travis and Nolan both to shift in their seats. Travis looked up at Nolan and Nolan sheepishly looked over at Nolan. Travis saw the way Nolan looked at his crotch and swallowed thickly.

“We can, if you want,” Travis paused when he saw Nolan perk up in his seat. “But I don’t want it to be a one-time thing.”

“Like… a fuckbuddies type thing,” Nolan asked. Travis didn’t miss the fact that Nolan sounded disappointed as he said that.

Travis shook his head.

“Like… a boyfriends type thing.”

Nolan released a breath and looked at Travis.

“Thank god,” he mumbled. “I thought I was the only one.”

Travis felt himself blush as he looked at Nolan. He took his hat off and placed it in his lap before he ran a hand through his hair. Nolan chuckled before he leaned forward and grabbed Travis’ cheeks with his hands.

“We’re oblivious morons,” Nolan murmured as he soothed his thumbs along Travis’s cheeks. “Aren’t we?”

All Travis could do was nod; he couldn’t find the capacity to form any words. His brain was too busy having a spaz attack over the fact that Nolan Patrick was  _ finally _ about to kiss him after he had pined after him from basically the moment they had met.

Nolan stared into Travis’ eyes and Travis stared back. Travis saw a mix of anxiousness and love in Nolan’s expression. He reached over and ran a hand soothingly along Nolan’s upper arm. Nolan relaxed into the touch and leaned forward to rest his forehead against Travis’ forehead.

Nolan huffed a breath again Travis’ lips, which caused Travis to shiver. Travis glared at Nolan and all Nolan could do was give him a smirk.

“Just kiss me already, you asshole,” Travis said before he connected his lips with Nolan’s.

Nolan rolled his eyes and chuckled before he returned the kiss. Travis mentally high-fived himself as he deepened the kiss with Nolan. This kiss was better than anything he could’ve ever imagined. Nolan was by far a better kisser than Travis had envisioned him to be. He kissed Travis gracefully, delicately, yet there was a desperate hunger behind the kisses that made Travis’ stomach clench and his pants pull tighter in the crotch.

When the two pulled back for air, they stared at each other. Travis swallowed thickly when he saw how dishevelled Nolan was. His hair was askew, his lips were red and swollen and his cheeks were rosy. Travis reached over and brushed some of Nolan’s askew hair out of his face. Nolan smiled and leaned into the touch.

Travis opened his mouth to say something but the fire crackled just then so all that came out was a half-hearted moan. Nolan shifted in his chair as he looked at Travis. Travis swallowed thickly and moaned again when the smell of the fire reached his nostrils.

Travis placed all of the food onto the ground, grateful that it was all packaged in some sort of plastic.

_ “Fuck…” _ He moaned, closed his eyes and ground his hand against his crotch. “That smells so good.”

When Travis opened his eyes, Nolan was on his knees between Travis’ legs. Travis nearly choked on the air as he looked at the expectant look on Nolan’s face.

“I…” Travis coughed to regain his composure. “I didn't mean right this second, Patty. We’re at a fucking campground. Anyone could walk by and see us.”

Travis didn’t miss the way Nolan swallowed and the way his eyes briefly darkened.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.  _ Oh _ ,” Nolan said, mockingly.

Travis sighed as he looked at Nolan. Against his better judgement, he unzipped his pants and shimmied them and his boxers down just enough to allow Nolan access to his cock. Nolan licked his lips as he cast a glance up at Travis.

“Thank you,” he mumbled.

“Yo…” Travis started to respond but his reply was cut off when Nolan licked the head of his cock.  _ “Fuck.” _

Nolan smirked as he swirled his tongue around the head of Travis’ cock. Travis shifted in his chair. The sensation from Nolan’s tongue mixed with the sight, sounds, and smell of the fire was enough to drive him crazy. 

When Nolan finally took him into his mouth, Travis had to bite his hand to keep quiet. Nolan quickly pulled off and looked up at Travis.

“Make noise, please,” Nolan said, an unreadable expression on his face. “It turns me on more when there’s a higher probability that I could get caught.”

Travis nodded. Travis moaned loudly a moment later when Nolan sucked the head of his cock into his mouth. 

The fire crackled again which caused Nolan to thrust against Travis’ leg and moan around his cock. Travis squeezed his eyes shut and resisted the urge to thrust his hips into Nolan’s mouth. Nolan pulled back and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Travis swallowed when he saw the strands of saliva that hung from Nolan’s hand when he moved it away from his mouth.

“You can fuck my face, Teeks,” Nolan said. “You won’t break me; I’m not delicate.”

Before Travis got the chance to respond, Nolan put Travis’ cock back in his mouth and swallowed it all of it down. Travis moaned and thrust his hips into Nolan’s mouth. It felt so good to have the pressure of Nolan's mouth around his cock. That mixed with the sight, scents, and sounds of the fire were almost too much for Travis to handle.

Travis tried to time his thrusts with the crackles of the campfire. He mostly succeeded but the pressure and suction from Nolan’s mouth made the rhythm hard to follow. The longer Nolan kept up his pace, the harder it was for Travis to match the rhythm of the campfire crackles. 

After one particularly loud crackle from the campfire, Travis felt vibrations around his cock as Nolan moaned. Travis thrust erratically and tried to tap Nolan on the shoulder.

“Patty,” Travis said, frantically. When Nolan kept up his pace, Travis tapped him on the shoulder again. “Nolan… Stop. I’m gonna…”

Nolan looked up at Travis and blinked right as the campfire crackled. Travis cursed, thrust his hips one more time, and orgasmed into Nolan’s mouth. Nolan swallowed all of Travis’ ejaculate and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand when he pulled back from Travis’ cock.

“C’mere,” Travis said as he pulled his pants and boxers up. “It’s your turn.”

Nolan blushed as he quickly sat down in his chair. Travis raised an eyebrow and tilted his head as he looked at Nolan. He cast a glance down to Nolan’s crotch and swallowed the sudden dryness that had formed there.

“You…” Travis started but stopped to swallow another patch of dryness. “You came in your pants from giving me a blow job.”

Nolan nodded, his face and the tips of his ears bright pink. 

Travis swallowed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Fuck, Patty,” he mumbled. “That’s incredibly hot.”

Nolan smiled weakly as he looked at Travis.

“I would’ve liked it if you got me off with your mouth or your hands,” Nolan said. “But the mixture of my exhibitionism kink and the campfire was just too much, apparently.”

Travis chuckled as he looked over at the campfire. 

“It should be good enough to cook with now.” 

He reached down and handed Nolan the Ziploc bag with the marshmallows. Nolan raised an eyebrow but smiled as he opened it and handed Travis two before he took two for himself. After taking a moment to throw the bag away, Nolan returned to hand Travis the campfire skewer. Travis nodded his thanks as he skewered the marshmallows onto it.

When Nolan got his marshmallows on the skewer, they both smiled at each other before they placed their skewers over the campfire.

Travis sat silently and listened to the sounds around him. The main sound he heard was the campfire. It made his body buzz with electricity, even after he had already orgasmed.

Another sound he heard was the distant call of a loon. He guessed it had come from the lake. When he had booked the campsite, the website had mentioned something about the lake being a hotspot for loons.

Another thing Travis heard was distant screams and loud music. He scoffed as he twirled the marshmallow skewer around the fire. Maybe there were two kinds of loons the lake was known for.

Travis sat and watched the marshmallows for another couple of minutes before he was satisfied that they were done. He grabbed the bag of graham crackers and chocolate from the ground. Travis carefully propped his skewer against his chair as he opened the bag. He took four graham crackers and two pieces of chocolate before he handed the bag to Nolan. Nolan smiled as he grabbed exactly what Travis had grabbed.

Travis quickly placed his marshmallows onto the graham crackers and placed the chocolate on top. He squished them together and hummed with satisfaction when the marshmallow and melted chocolate oozed out the side. Nolan chuckled as he did the same.

When they bit into them, Travis swallowed thickly as a smudge of chocolate stuck to Nolan’s nose.

“There’s some chocolate on your nose,” Travis mumbled around a piece of s’more.

Nolan tilted his head. Travis ran his finger over his nose and that seemed to click with Nolan because he ran his own finger over his nose. When the chocolate came off on his finger, he smiled and licked his finger clean. Travis short-circuited and coughed at the way Nolan sucked on his finger. Nolan smirked at Travis as soon as he popped his finger out of his mouth.

“Asshole,” Travis said. “You knew exactly what you were doing!”

Nolan put the last of his s’more into his mouth and sucked his fingers clean of any excess chocolate or melted marshmallow. Travis short-circuited and coughed again.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Nolan said coyly.

Travis grabbed his campfire skewer and poked Nolan with the end that hadn’t been in the fire. Nolan chuckled and tapped Travis on the tip of his nose. Travis rolled his eyes and stuck the last of his s’more into his mouth.

“Teeks, look,” Nolan said as he pointed at the sky.

Travis looked up and noticed that the sky was dotted with stars. He blinked to himself because he hadn’t realized that it had gotten dark.

“Wanna stargaze with me,” Nolan asked.

“Yeah,” Travis mumbled.

Nolan smiled as he went to the truck and spread their sleeping bags out beside the truck. Before Travis walked over, he doused the fire. He stuck around for a couple of minutes just to make sure it was actually out. The last thing he needed to do was start a forest fire. He could never live with himself.

When he got over to Nolan, Nolan was already laid out in his sleeping bag. Travis crawled into his and laid next to Nolan. Nolan reached his arm around Travis and pulled him up against his body. Travis sighed happily as he wiggled around to get comfortable. Once he was comfortable, he laid his head atop Nolan’s chest. Nolan sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of Travis’ head.

“The stars are pretty,” Travis mumbled, suddenly overtaken with exhaustion. “But you’re prettier.”

Travis smiled weakly as he felt Nolan’s heartbeat increase ever so slightly. Travis squeezed Nolan and mumbled a couple of sweet nothings into his neck. Nolan hummed and pressed another soft kiss to the top of Travis’ head.

“You’re pretty too, Teeks,” Nolan said.

“Thanks, Patty,” Travis mumbled.

Travis yawned and wiggled a little bit more to get comfortable again. Once he was satisfied, he closed his eyes and steadied out his breaths.

Travis felt himself suddenly jerk back into a stream of consciousness. He went to complain but he noticed that Nolan had directed his attention towards the sky. Travis grumbled as he lifted his head to look upwards. Travis blinked when he noticed some shooting stars streak across the sky.

“Make a wish, Patty,” Travis said as he dropped his head back against Nolan’s chest.

Travis wished that he and Nolan would be together forever and have a happy family with three adopted kids and three dogs. He didn’t care what genders his and Nolan’s children were as long as they were happy. He just knew that he had names picked out for them already. He would name them Morgan, Carter, and Elliott because he respected Frost, Hartsy, and Moose a lot and those three names were gender-neutral from what he understood. He also knew what he wanted to name the dogs. He would name one of the dogs Gritty because how could he not? He would name the other two dogs Beezer and Ghost because he also respected Joel and Shayne a lot. He just hoped Nolan wanted what he wanted.

“Yes, of course,” Nolan said into Travis' hair.

“Hmm,” Travis mumbled somewhat half-heartedly because he was almost asleep. “Of course what?”

“We can name our kids Morgan, Carter, and Elliott. I think Frost, Hartsy, and Moose would be honoured. And we can name the dogs Gritty, Beezer, and Ghost. I think they would be honoured too.”

Instead of shame for the fact that he said all of that out loud, Travis felt warmth travel through his body. He felt a gooeyness settle in the pit of his stomach as he felt Nolan’s steady heartbeat against his cheek.

“I love you, Patty,” Travis mumbled. “Always have, always will.”

Travis smiled softly when he felt Nolan wrap his other arm around him. Travis smiled again when he noticed that Nolan’s heartbeat hadn’t changed its pace. It had continued to beat at the same pace it was at before Travis had said what he had said. That proved to Travis that Nolan wasn’t scared or surprised by the prospect of what he had said. 

Nolan placed a soft kiss to the top of Travis’ head. Travis yawned and closed his eyes. He felt himself start to drift closer to sleep. He wanted to fight it for as long as he could because he wanted to be awake to hear Nolan’s reply, whatever it may be.

Travis didn’t have to wait much longer because Nolan sighed softly and kissed Travis’ forehead before he nestled Travis’ head into the crook of his neck.

“I’ll love you forever, I’ll love you for always,” Nolan paused to kiss Travis on the top of the head. “As long as I’m living, my Teeks you’ll be.”

Travis sighed as he felt himself drift closer and closer to sleep.

After a few moments of silence, Travis heard soft snores from Nolan. Travis smiled to himself and fell asleep to the sound of Nolan’s snores.

The last conscious thought that Travis had was something he would cherish until the day he died.

He felt safe and secure in Nolan’s arms.

**Author's Note:**

> In regards to Travis’ wish to have a family of three adopted children and three dogs with Nolan: there’s a method to that madness.
> 
> I have the Sims 4 and made Travis and Nolan as a household. I got them married and they have three adopted children and three dogs. 
> 
> I think you can see where this is going. 
> 
> The children’s names are Morgan, Carter, and Elliott, as stated in the fic. The dogs’ names are Gritty, Beezer, and Ghost, also as stated in the fic. If it matters to you at all, Gritty is a golden doodle, Beezer is a bullmastiff, and Ghost is a beagle.


End file.
